Rain Falls
by AdoniaAlma
Summary: Hiccup is a hero. He trains dragons, runs the Dragon Academy, and rides the most rare and dangerous dragon known to Viking kind. But he has a past... His best friend Rain was taken from the village when it was attacked by Crookedtooth and his raiders. Also taken from the village were Freya, Rain's mom, and Valhallarama, Hiccup's own beloved mother. Here's a look into Hiccup's past.


Chapter one:Hide and Hunt  
Hiccups POV  
"Where aaarrrre you, Hiccup?" The little eight year old Viking boy huddled closer to the side of the stone wall of the cave, praying to the gods that the darkness would be enough to cover him. He tried his best to slow down his shallow breathing, to calm his rapidly beating heart...I'm not ready to be found...He thought, I'm not ready to-"DIE!"  
"Oof!" Hiccup grunted, and slid to the floor clutching his stomach where his foe had whacked him with her deadly weapon...a heavy branch. Well, not so heavy that a slim seven year old girl couldn't efficiently wield it.  
"I found you! Haha, I win again! Hiccup, you're sooooo bad at this game," her squeaky voice echoed in the dark caverns, and he felt her tiny hands grab his arms and pull him to his feet. "C'mon! Lets play something else. I'm tired of beating you at hide-and-hunt all the time." Hiccup gently pulled his arms out of her grasp and took one of her hands in his slightly larger one.  
"Oh, I just let you win because you're a girrrrl," he said, stressing the fact that she was indeed female. The little girl wrenched her hand out of his and squealed in genuine horror, beating his chest with her tiny fists.  
"EEEEEEeeeeeewww, GA-ROSS! I am not!" Hiccup laughed at her obvious disgust, flinching as she hit him but not really caring since it didn't hurt-if she had been trying to hurt him he probably would have been in pain. But he wasn't, so he just laughed!  
"Hahahahahahaha! Yes you are, hahaha! But don't you worry, Rain. At least you don't really act or look like a girl. To me you're just my friend Rain! You're almost as much of a boy as I am!"  
"Thanks, Hic,"she said,"But that's almost as mean as the first thing you said!" So she continued to hit him, just playing of course.  
Lots of people had mentioned that Rain was a lot like a boy. And it was true, too. Rain wasn't girly at all; her tiny frame was thin yet wiry like a boy's, her curly flame-red hair was chopped to her shoulders (her own doing, to her mother's chagrin), and she avoided wearing dresses at all costs, preferring to wear leggings, boots, and long, comfy shirts. She didn't really hang out with the other girls her age...Ruffnut and Astrid were about a year older than Rain, yet neither girl seemed to really notice the puny, insignificant girl with fiery hair.  
Maybe that's the reason we get along so well, He thought, Because we are both so invisible. Hiccup knew he didn't have any friends besides Rain...he had a sort of on-and-off acquaintanceship with the shy and nerdy Fishlegs, but they weren't really friends. They just tolerated each other. And the other boys in the village, mainly his rival and cousin Snotlout and the ever-annoying Tuffnut (Ruffnut's twin brother), if they weren't ignoring him, were trying to make his childhood miserable. And more often than not they succeeded. But Rain was always there to cheer Hiccup up again...like today, Snotlout had put sheep poop in Mildew's gruel and had let Hiccup take the blame. Of course no one could convince the grumpy old codger otherwise, so Hiccup had been punished; and working all morning and most of the afternoon in the old man's fields was as bad a punishment as any.  
Rain had helped him finish his job, and then had convinced him to come play in their secret fun place: the extensive caverns behind a huge waterfall gushing out the side of a steep mountain into the sea. They had appropriately nicknamed the caves "Hiccup's and Rain's Secret Fun Adventure Place Caverns", or Harsfap Caverns for short. That's where they were now, as Rain and Hiccup giggled and pretended to fight. Rain stopped hitting Hiccup just as he reached up and grabbed her by the wrists. For a moment they were completely silent except for their shallow breathing...in the darkness of the cavern the young pair could barely make out the outlines of the other's childlike form standing directly in front of them. Hiccup strained his eyes, searching in the suddenly overwhelming blackness for his best friend's icy blue eyes...he couldn't see them. But he could feel her looking at him, and he knew that she could see him; Rain had an unusually keen sense of sight. As she stared at him she tensed, and Hiccup realized he was gripping her wrists tightly. He loosened his hold quickly, and softly said, "Oops, sorry. My bad. You okay?" She didn't answer, but suddenly grabbed him by the shoulders and pushed him back against the wall. "Oof! Rain, what the heck!?" He started to ask her why she had him pinned to the wall when she pressed her right hand over his mouth, and pulled him down closer to her so she could whisper in his ear (Rain was a good head shorter than Hiccup)...  
"Don't move. Don't talk. Don't even breathe." Her childish voice sounded so grown up when she said that...but also...so afraid. She slowly and deliberately moved her hand away from his mouth, and let that one join the other one and wrapped her fingers firmly over his shoulder. Hiccup could feel her tiny frame trembling as she pressed him close to the wall of the dark, usually-welcoming cave they so often visited...something was wrong. Hiccup could feel it now, whatever it was that Rain had first noticed moments before...someone or someTHING was in the cave with them. They were not alone.  
He felt Rain's forced controlled breathing in little puffs on his neck...she buried her face in his shoulder, and tightened her arms around him. He squeezed her gently, trying to let her know it would be alright. But Hiccup wasn't so sure either of them would be alright. And he was even more not sure that they would be alright when they heard a low, deep grrrowwlll coming from somewhere close in the caverns, in HIS AND RAIN'S caverns...he suddenly had the urge to protect their hiding place, to protect Rain, to make her stop being afraid of whatever it was lurking in the shadows! Suddenly Hiccup, weak, scrawny, awkward little Hiccup, felt brave.  
He squeezed Rain hard again, and then gently pushed her away from him. He set her aside, and moved toward the sound...the unknown growling sound that was getting closer, and CLOSER...GGGRRRRrrrrr...Hiccup held in his shaking hands the stick Rain had in fun "killed" him with what seemed like ages ago, although truly no more than a few short minutes had passed since. Hiccup cleared his throat, and called out in his high-pitched eight year old voice. "H-hello? This is o-o-our c-cave and we would r-really ap-p-preciate it if you would just g-g-go a-aw-w-way!"  
And the growling stopped. Both children froze in place, too afraid to move, too afraid to break the silence. Finally Hiccup found his voice. "Is it...gone?" Rain gulped down a breath of air (she had been holding her breath) and gasped.  
"I think so!" She threw herself at Hiccup, surprising him (because he hadn't seen her coming in the dark, and of course she knew exactly where he was with her amazing eyesight and all) and covering his neck with hot tears. "Oh Hiccup I was so scared!" Hiccup hugged his friend back, his hand clutching the curls at the nape of her neck.  
"I was scared too," he murmured, "I still am. C'mon, let's get out of here before-" Gggrrrooowwwllll...this time the creature was closer! It was so close Hiccup could see over Rain's shoulder where the hot yellow flames smoldered in the eyes of their unwanted guest: a humongous Monstrous Nightmare!  
The dragon burst into angry flames and let out a furious RRROOOOOAAAAARRRRR and without thinking Hiccup was running through the familiar caverns with his sobbing playmate in his arms, running and running to escape certain death! He ran through tunnels and slid down slopes and jumped across ledges...there wasn't an inch of these caverns he hadn't explored. The flaming dragon was ever on his heels, snapping and spitting and obviously out for blood. Hiccup crushed Rain to his body protectively and kept on running...He was getting closer and closer to the exit, when out of nowhere-"Yyyyeeeaaaaaauuuuuggghhh!"-Hiccup and Rain were falling and screaming. Down they tumbled, through a steep tunnel neither of them recognized. Hiccup was confused for a moment. But I thought I knew these caves, I know I did! What is this? Where are we g- BUT Hiccup never finished his thought, because suddenly his entire world went black, and he lost consciousness.

Chapter two: Mystery Caverns  
Rain's POV

"Uhhm...H-Hiccup...?" Rain blinked rapidly, her cat-like eyes adjusting to the strange, dim, eerie blue glow of the unfamiliar cave...The CAVE! Oh, gods, what happened? Where's Hiccup!? She silently and frantically whirled around, searching the surrounding area for any signs of her best friend. She didn't dare cry out, for fear of the Monstrous Nightmare hearing her and finding her...finally she dared to whisper his name again. "Hiccup," she almost couldn't hear her own voice. "Hiccup, where are you?"  
"Rain?" She heard his soft, lilting voice quiver as he quietly called her name. "Rain, what happened? Where are we? Ah, my head hurts..." Rain nimbly ran over to him, following his voice and nearly throwing herself at his feet; he sat on the cold, hard floor of the cave, obviously dazed. She ran her fingers through his soft brown hair...he had a nice lump where he had hit his head on the rock floor but other than that he seemed to be fine. She gave a sigh of relief and hugged him tight, calmly trying to explain what had just happened to them.  
"We were running from that awful dragon and we fell through a new tunnel and ended up here," she said,"But where is here, exactly?" Now that she knew Hiccup was alright, she took a moment to inspect their surroundings.  
Her breath caught in her throat. It's beautiful! She allowed the sheer magnificence of the caverns to overwhelm her for a moment. The cave was huge, and very open except for some natural rock formations that jutted up out of the ground, walls, and ceiling and created picturesque green-gray "statues" that seemed to come alive in the shimmering reflections of the still, clear pools of water that were scattered all over the surface of the floor. Some pools were shallow and filled with some weird species of little tiny amphibious dragon. Actually, the dragons weren't only in the pools-they were everywhere! Resting in the shallow pools, hunting for small fish and bugs in the larger ones, sprawled out over rocks and walking around on the floor or hanging precariously on the walls or ceiling...Rain couldn't help but stare. She had never seen anything like it.  
The creatures ranged in size from the size of Rain's thumbnail to about as long as both of Hiccup's arms together. They came in all different shades of blues and greens, from lime to emerald to rich pine green and baby blue to deep sapphire and indigo. They all had bright eyes, of all colors. The most common eye colors seemed to be shades of red and green. The little beasties had smooth hides, the scales so tightly meshed together that you has to look extremely close to realize they indeed had scales and not skin, and they secreted a transparent slime that thinly coated their entire bodies with a protective ooze. They had large, teardrop shaped heads, thin serpentine bodies with long flattened tails (flattened like an oar at the end), and six double-jointed limbs with webbed feet, as well as largish (for the dragons' relatively small size, anyway) wings on both males and females and fin-like crests and frills on the males only. There were hundreds of them in the cavern, which would have frightened her if they had not completely ignored her and Hiccup.  
"What are they?" Hiccup whimpered, instinctively wanting to hide from the dragons. Rain turned to him breathlessly. Her blue eyes sparkled in the dim glow of the cavern.  
"I have no idea, but just look at this place! It's fantastic!" She saw the look of uncertainty on her more timid friend's face and rolled her eyes. "What is it now, Hiccup?" She groaned, not understanding Hiccup's lack of wonder at the beauty surrounding them.  
"I...I...it's just...the...they...I..." Hiccup sputtered, trying to remain calm. He wasn't making any progress, and his attempts to say what he was thinking only annoyed Rain.  
"Oh, come ON, Hiccup!" Becoming suddenly angry with him, her voice raised an octave, causing, unbeknownst to her, the mystery dragons to stare at them. "Spit it out! What are you trying to say!?" Hiccup's face paled, and he pointed over her shoulder.  
Rain slowly turned around, her anger giving way to dread, and she saw the reason Hiccup was so afraid: hundreds of the small dragons were glaring at the two kids, who now stood between them and...their precious egg-filled nests.  
"Oh, great," she took the time to say before grabbing Hiccup's hand and pulling him out of the dragons' path as a dozen of them suddenly pounced and then the two of them were running once again. Only this time they REALLY had no idea where they were going.  
So they ran, and they ran aimlessly skipping over pools and leaping over low hanging rocks and holes in the ground until they noticed a tunnel large enough for them to fit through...the tunnel was on the other side of a gap in the rocks, a rather large jump for such little kids to make. But it was their only chance of escape, and they both knew it. Without saying a word the two ran as one and took the jump together, hand in hand...  
They barely made it. Hiccup shouted as he lost his balance and Rain swung him to safety before he could pull them both down to their deaths.  
"Yikes! That was way too close," he gasped as they took a moment to breathe. A very short moment, because they the cave dragons were coming for them. Rain whipped out her little wooden bow and fitted an arrow to it and let it fly, and she did it all so quickly! Hiccup was impressed, but there was no way she could take down so many of the little buggers. So he grabbed her hand and they ran down the tunnel as quickly as their young legs could carry them, until they came to a fork in the path. They looked at each other in a growing panic; they could hear the dragons getting closer and closer... Acting on impulse, Hiccup pulled the surprised Rain into his arms and sprinted down the path on the left...and she dropped her bow. But at this point, escape was all that mattered.  
"HICCUP!" Rain shouted, urging him to go faster-the dragons were gaining on them! Oh Thor we are going to die, we are so dead, we're dragon food, oh Thor, please no! She silently prayed and once again began to cry on Hiccup's shoulder, which didn't work out very well since he WAS running. He tripped and barely caught himself, however his shoulder rammed Rain's freckled nose which proceeded to bleed profusely. Both kids were so scared they didn't even notice. Hiccup just kept on running. It's no use, we're going to-"AAAAAAAHHHH!" She screamed at the top of her lungs, and Hiccup screamed with her.  
Because once again, without warning, they had stumbled upon another surprise slide. And once again, the kids hit their heads and were abruptly, blissfully knocked into unconsciousness.

Chapter three: Storms of Life  
Hiccup's POV

"Hiccup, wake up," a soft, musical voice was saying in his ear. "C'mon, Hic, wake up! We made it, Hic!" He slowly opened his eyes, to see his red-headed friend's smiling but concerned face looming over his...there was blood all over her face! He sat up alarmed, but she pushed him back down. "Shh,"she said.  
"Your face is covered in blood!" He gasped. Her eyes widened in alarm, but then she smiled and wiped her face off on his shirt. "Heyheyhey, noooo...gross..."  
"That was for bloodying my nose and losing my bow," she said smugly. "And this," she hugged him tightly and murmured into his ear,"Is for saving me." Hiccup sighed and looked up...  
And then he noticed the dusky sky overhead. They were in the forrest, the thinly veiled part of the forrest located in the valley about an hour's walk from the waterfall. He looked up at the side of the mountain and strained his eyes to see the dark hole the two of them had unceremoniously slid. The stars were shining, the moon was out...it was late. Realllly late, and Hiccup realized that they had missed dinner precisely at the same moment his stomach let loose a ferocious growl. He jumped up to his feet, and Rain giggled. "Hehehe, nice one. You sound like a Gronkel!" Hiccup resisted the urge to laugh along with her. This was serious! Not only had they missed dinner but their parents were going to kill them when they finally made it back home...Home. Hiccup had a feeling that they had to hurry back.  
"We have to get home, Rain," he said, then his stomach growled again, this time even louder. Rain continued to giggle.  
"Hehehehe! Now that was more like a Gronkel with gas."  
"Rain! I'm serious!" Hiccup couldn't help it. He smiled as his stomach protested.  
"Ahahahaha! A Gronkel with REALLY BAD gas!" Now Rain was laughing hysterically, holding her side and struggling to stay on her feet. Hiccup shook his head as he tried to stop laughing himself.  
"Hahahaha! Haha. Hm. Okay, Rain, seriously," he tried to control himself,"We have to get home fast." He started walking ahead without her. Rain continued to giggle mercilessly as she skipped to catch up. When she reached him she surprised both of them by letting loose a very loud hiccup! "Whoa, Rain, hahaha, you got the hiccups," Hiccup smiled broadly. "You got the hiccups laughing at your friend Hiccup. Hahaha!"  
"I-hiccup-can see that-hiccup-you moron!" She covered her mouth with her hands and held her breath, trying to stop herself from performing the embarrassing action again. "Hiccup! Aw, come on!" Now it was Hiccup's turn to laugh hysterically as his best friend tried every which way to get rid of her horrendous hiccups. They continued walking toward home and trying to fix Rain's hilarious problem until suddenly-  
BOOM! Flash! BABOOM! CRASH! The thunder and lightning scared away Rain's hiccups as well as her sanity. She screamed and ran, Hiccup chasing after her. "RAIN COME BACK!" He cried, tripping over his clumsy feet as he tried to run through the sparse forrest in the heavy rain that had come upon them so suddenly. "RAIN!" He stumbled over a shivering form huddled on the ground, a shadow of Rain's usually brave self reduced to terror by the thunderstorm.  
She lay there, soaking wet and shaking, cold and afraid. Hiccup had never seen his friend like this before. He didn't know how terrified she was of thunderstorms. He only knew that she was really, truly scared, and he suddenly wanted to do anything he could to help her. So he picked her up and carried her until he found a hollow tree big enough to fit them both inside the stump, nestled in among the roots and sheltered by the tree's welcoming branches. She had stopped being so hysterical, but she still shivered non stop...Hiccup couldn't tell if it was because she was cold or scared or both...so he wrapped his warm fur vest around her, hugged her tight, and began to soothingly talk to her, trying to convince her that she was going to be alright. "Shh, shh, shh...it's going to be okay, Rainy. I gotcha, see? I'm right here. Nothing is going to happen to you. I'll protect you! It's only a little thunderstorm. And it's only raining, look, just rain! Just like you. See? Nothing to be afraid of."  
She whimpered and snuggled closer to him, taking a deep raking breath. "You don't understand, Hiccup. I'm so afraid of th-thunder...and the rain is so cold and hard! I c-can't be out in it like this...I'll get sick. And M-mother will be so ups-s-set...and...and-"  
B-B-BOOMMM! She screamed and held onto Hiccup for dear life. Oh, boy. Hiccup thought. This is going to be a long night. And he was right. She was sobbing again, and all Hiccup could do was hold her and tell her over and over again that she was going to be fine. He wanted to shake her and tell her to stop being a baby, but something told him that wouldn't be a very good idea. So he just held her tight, and spoke to her softly. "It's okay, Rain. You'll see, everything will be fine. I'll protect you." Finally she looked up at him with tears in her eyes, and Hiccup felt his heart skip a beat. Ouch! What is this!?  
"Hiccup," whispered the girl-yes, she was a girl-with icy blue eyes,"Did you mean it?"  
"Mean what?" Hiccup whispered back. He felt strange, like something was different. Just hours ago he had said that Rain was just Rain. But now...She's a girl, an actual girl. She's little and scared and she-she needs me! He looked into those eyes, and for the first time ever noticed just how beautiful they were.  
"Did you mean it when you said you would protect me?" Her lip quivered slightly. Then Hiccup did something he never thought he would do, one because he never really thought about it before, and two because before that very moment he always thought it was gross when he saw elders do it, especially his parents...Hiccup leaned forward and kissed Rain on the lips. It was a soft and gentle...It was one of those a-butterfly-just-landed-on-your-lips kind of kiss, and it lasted only for a moment, but it filled Hiccup's eight year old heart with joy and a longing to make her happy. He stared into her eyes, and saw a slightly bewildered look mirrored in them. He could hardly believe he had just done that. Hiccup took a deep breath. Thor, my heart is beating so fast...  
"I meant it, Rain. I'll always protect you. I'll always, always love you." And Rain sighed peacefully and closed her eyes, all fear gone. She didn't feel the cold anymore, Hiccup's childish display of affection had warmed her through and through. She leaned her forehead against his and whispered...  
"And I'll always love you, too." Hiccup could feel her shivering still, but she was more relaxed, and didn't seem to be afraid anymore. He was glad, relieved that Rain had calmed down. "Hiccup?" She said his name again, softly and tenderly, like a sister would say an adored brother's name, only Hiccup wouldn't know that because he was an only child. In his mind, he was "in love" with Rain, and she with him. Oh yes, Hiccup had it bad. He was experiencing his first crush. So when Rain said his name, he assumed it was with the most love her seven year old heart could muster.  
"Uh huh?" He said, his little heart swelling up.  
"We'll always be together, won't we, Hiccup? We'll always be best friends." Yes, I think so, Hiccup thought.  
"Yeah, always," he said confidently. But he was far from right...because, you see, something was about to happen. Something that would change both their lives forever.  
And nothing would ever be the same again.


End file.
